Slouchy Black Dolman Tee Tutorial

This is a self drafted pattern that is so comfortable, flattering and easy that I made it twice and took pictures along the way the second time to share.

First I used my shirt I already made and cut around it as a pattern. One tip when doing this is to fold your clothing in half. As you wear your clothes they may stretch and move causing them to no longer be symmetrical. As long as you fold it in half you should be able to get a symmetrical piece. If you are wanting to make your own and wondering about the dimensions I measured everything out on mine as best I could. The great thing about this top is that it is not one that needs to be a perfect fit. I call it my “slouchy tee” because it really just fits well in the neck, forearms, and hips and everywhere else it is loose. I would say these measurements would work well for someone that considers themselves a medium or medium/large. You may want to measure yourself and see if anything needs adjusting for you before you begin cutting.

This pattern will work best with a fabric that has a 4 way stretch. I used a rayon spandex knit from Joann’s

Here is the front and back which are the exact same on this pattern due to the simple boat neck design. 2 sleeves, and 1 strip to be used around the neck line.

First I line up my shoulders with right sides of the fabric together and sew them across. Here you can see I’ve opened the shirt and just the shoulders are sewn together.

Now find the center of your sleeve and line it up with the seam of the shoulder. You can then sew your sleeves on while your shirt is open before you sew the sides of the shirt together.

Here you can see it opened back up. It looks kind of like a giant plus sign.

Now fold it on top of itself with right sides together.

and sew down the sides to the arm pit turn your fabric and go down the length of the sleeve.

To finish off the wrist fold your fabric in towards the wrong side of the fabric once,

and then once more. Not do a stretch stitch such as a zig zag all the way around. Be sure to not let the fabric stretch as you sew. It is helpful to me if I gently guide the fabric as it goes, not pushing it but also making sure the machine isn’t pulling at it.

Now do the same for the bottom of the shirt. Turning the hem under twice and sewing it all the way around with a stretch stitch.

For the neckline take your strip leave about 1/2 an inch and then start sewing it around the neck line. You will want to match up the top of your strip with the top right side of your neck line.

Hold your top piece of fabric giving just a little bit of resistance and let the bottom piece go through without any resistance.

Once you get back around to the beginning stop. Line up your two loose ends and sew straight down, making sure not to catch any of the fabric from the shirt body.

Now trim off the excess fabric so you are not left with a bulky spot on the neckline. Turn it under twice towards the wrong side of the fabric (inside of the shirt at this point) and do a stretch stitch all the way around.

Honestly I wish I would have given less resistance to the strip of fabric as I sewed it on the neck line because it did end up pulling the neckline in more than I wanted, but overall I still like the look of it.

Now slip it on and your ready to wear it out! I sewed this whole thing up along with taking pictures in about 30 minutes. It only has